Common Farm Chalton

Common Farm February 2016

Common Farmhouse was listed by the former Department of Environment in September 1980 as Grade II, of special interest. The oldest parts date from the late 16th or early 17th centuries, the building being re-faced in the 18th century. These older parts are timber-framed and this is visible at the left-hand elevation of the house. Otherwise the structure comprises two storeys and is built of a mixture of red brick and vitrified brick, with a clay tiled roof. The farm is named after Chalton Common which lies north of the village.

The Rating and Valuation Act 1925 specified that every building and piece of land in the country was to be assessed to determine its rateable value. The valuer visiting the farm [DV1/H4/12] found that it was owned and occupied by Ward and Sons, Kelly's Directory for 1928 specifies that Walter Ward, dairyman, occupied Common Farm, with George Ward at Manor Farm. The wards are first listed in Chalton in Kelly's Directory of 1890and were still at the farm when the last directory for the county was published in 1940.

The farm comprised 112 acres and included two cottages. Water came from a well, the house was lit by oil lamps and the house and buildings were noted as "old" and "poor". The house comprised two reception rooms, a kitchen, dairy and pantry downstairs with four bedrooms above. Domestic buildings included a brick and tiled earth closet and a brick and tiled coal barn.

The homestead comprised: three brick and tiled pigsties and a gig house; a tiled and thatched loose box and a two-bay hovel with a manger; two brick, tiled and thatched loose boxes; a brick, tiled and thatched loose box, five-bay hovel with a manger and a loose box; a large brick, tiled and thatched barn and old stable for five horses; a large brick, tiled and thatched barn with a partly concrete floor; a small mill and a brick, tiled and thatched cart hovel.